Painting (Still)
01 Jun - 31 Jul 2008
PINTURA (AÚN) – Painting (Still)
Bernard Frize, On Kawara, Raoul de Keyser, Jonathan Monk, Günter Umberg, Christopher Wool, Rèmy Zaugg / Curated by Ignasi Aballí.
The Galería Elba Benítez ends the season with Pintura (Aún), a project created by the artist Ignasi Aballí (Barcelona, 1958) in which he surveys the current state of painting through the artworks of seven artists who have, moreover, been a source of inspiration for his own work.
Pintura (Aún) is the start of a new endeavour that will be part of the exhibition schedule at the Galería Elba Benítez whereby each year one of the gallery’s artists will be invited to develop a curatorial project at the venue. This initiative seeks to open alternative paths for approaching work by the gallery’s artists, where there will be ample room also to explore questions such as their artistic interests, concerns and thoughts.
An exploration of the painting process is a constant in the work of Ignasi Aballí. At the beginning of his career he used it as the main subject of his exhibitions and publications, such as Pintures? (Centro de Lectura de Reus, 1988), Joven pintura española (Ministerio de Asuntos Exteriores, which toured a number of countries),
1989), and Painting Simulations, Howar Yezerski Gallery (Boston, 1990), but soon he would abandon it as a technique –though still recurring to it often as a material to reflect on– in order to develop his work in other mediums. A good example of his subsequent use of it is his Carta de Colores suite, which reproduces and groups different colours together according to the arrangement of conventional colour cards, while at the same time he associates the colours with names, ideologies, biographies, various products and the occasional text about colour theory.
Taking painting, in the most traditional sense of the word, as his reference, the work of Ignasi Aballí has never ceased to be painterly, despite the fact that he uses other techniques and mediums, such as photography, installations and video.
Coinciding with this exhibition Ignasi Aballí will inaugurate his show Fotografía para jardines on the 4 June, as part of the official programme of Photoespaña 2008, which together with Pintura (Aún) offers us a chance to see his work and approach from different angles. Ignasi Aballí (Barcelona, 1958) was included in the official selection at last year’s 52nd Venice Biennale located at the Giardini and the Arsennale. He has had solo shows at the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía (MNCARS), the Museu d ́Art Contemporani de Barcelona (MACBA), the ZKM (Karlsruhe, Germany), the Ikon Gallery (Birmingham, UK) and at the Museu Serralves de Oporto (Portugal), to mention just a few.
Bernard Frize, On Kawara, Raoul de Keyser, Jonathan Monk, Günter Umberg, Christopher Wool, Rèmy Zaugg / Curated by Ignasi Aballí.
The Galería Elba Benítez ends the season with Pintura (Aún), a project created by the artist Ignasi Aballí (Barcelona, 1958) in which he surveys the current state of painting through the artworks of seven artists who have, moreover, been a source of inspiration for his own work.
Pintura (Aún) is the start of a new endeavour that will be part of the exhibition schedule at the Galería Elba Benítez whereby each year one of the gallery’s artists will be invited to develop a curatorial project at the venue. This initiative seeks to open alternative paths for approaching work by the gallery’s artists, where there will be ample room also to explore questions such as their artistic interests, concerns and thoughts.
An exploration of the painting process is a constant in the work of Ignasi Aballí. At the beginning of his career he used it as the main subject of his exhibitions and publications, such as Pintures? (Centro de Lectura de Reus, 1988), Joven pintura española (Ministerio de Asuntos Exteriores, which toured a number of countries),
1989), and Painting Simulations, Howar Yezerski Gallery (Boston, 1990), but soon he would abandon it as a technique –though still recurring to it often as a material to reflect on– in order to develop his work in other mediums. A good example of his subsequent use of it is his Carta de Colores suite, which reproduces and groups different colours together according to the arrangement of conventional colour cards, while at the same time he associates the colours with names, ideologies, biographies, various products and the occasional text about colour theory.
Taking painting, in the most traditional sense of the word, as his reference, the work of Ignasi Aballí has never ceased to be painterly, despite the fact that he uses other techniques and mediums, such as photography, installations and video.
Coinciding with this exhibition Ignasi Aballí will inaugurate his show Fotografía para jardines on the 4 June, as part of the official programme of Photoespaña 2008, which together with Pintura (Aún) offers us a chance to see his work and approach from different angles. Ignasi Aballí (Barcelona, 1958) was included in the official selection at last year’s 52nd Venice Biennale located at the Giardini and the Arsennale. He has had solo shows at the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía (MNCARS), the Museu d ́Art Contemporani de Barcelona (MACBA), the ZKM (Karlsruhe, Germany), the Ikon Gallery (Birmingham, UK) and at the Museu Serralves de Oporto (Portugal), to mention just a few.